Personal motivational resource as a condition for the development of self-education competence in university students

Abstract

The relevance of the research subject was determined by the present-day higher-education requirements for students’ self-educational competence. One of the conditions for its development is the personal motivational resource which allows the student to actualise and reliably meet his/her need for self-education and self-development. Materials and methods. The research was carried out on the basis of the federal state autonomous institution of higher education North-Caucasus Federal University (N=200) with the use of the following methods: the authors’ questionnaire “Assessing the level of students’ self-education”, “Diagnostics of the personality’s motivational structure” (Milman), “Methodology for exploring the learning motivation” (Lukyanova, Kalinkina), adapted version of “Diagnostics of motivators of a person’s social and psychological activity” (Fetiskin). The study used as well the comparative methods of mathematical statistics (Mann Whitney U test; Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Results. It was revealed that 30% and 29% of students, respectively, demonstrated low and high levels of formed self-education competence. The students with the high level of self-education had a progressive profile of personal motivational structure for the most part (41.4%); a very high level of motivation for learning, development motives and expressed inclination to creative activity (48.3%) testifying to internal motivation and personality-inherent substantiation of learning; the need for success (48.2%) and the tendency towards affiliation (group recognition) (41.4%). The students with the low level of self-education are predominantly characterised by impulsive (26.6%) and regressive (23.3%) profiles of personal motivational structure; moderate and reduced levels of motivation for learning (50%); three groups of motives: achieving success – 30.0%; striving for power – 36.7%; tendency towards affiliation – 33.3%, which evidences the prevailing external motivation for learning. The intergroup differences according to the Mann Whitney U test are statistically significant (p<0.05). The obtained results of the students’ personal motivational characteristics made it possible to identify the areas of content-specific support required for the development of self-education competence in undergraduate students. The experimental control-stage data showed positive dynamics in the development of the students’ self-education competence. A number of statistically significant differences according to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were identified (p <0.05; p <0.01)